


Praiseworthy Performance

by ashenpages



Category: The Glass Scientists (Webcomic), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Empathy, I've worked very hard for this moment, M/M, Socks, snuggly sex between two people you never thought would be having snuggly sex, tgs, the glass scientists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 11:49:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15684843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashenpages/pseuds/ashenpages
Summary: Stuck in Henry's body, Hyde is doing a marvelous job keeping things together--but it leaves him rather tired. Henry has a few ideas about how to help Hyde feel better.





	Praiseworthy Performance

**Author's Note:**

> A commission for one of my lovely friends and patrons. I'll be making him a rather fun TGS birthday present around November time too, but it will be on a different timeline. AU to my AU if you will.
> 
> It's nice that we've come far enough with these characters that I could write them being soft with each other. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as my friend did!

Hyde dragged himself through the door of his and Henry’s bedroom and collapsed on the bed with a groan. “Make it end,” he moaned. “For the love of science, Henry, make it end. I can’t take any more of this pretending to be you business.”

Henry grimaced and solidified himself, coming together in a cumulation of light and color. Once he had legs again, he went to the bed and sat comfortingly next to Hyde. He reached out and stroked the other man’s hair. It was still odd to see Hyde’s hair as Henry’s brunette, and Henry’s long limbs take on the body language of the more aggressive man, but in the weeks that had passed since that fateful night at Robert’s, these sights had become less startling. The strain the predicament placed on them, however, had only grown.

Henry massaged Hyde’s scalp soothingly. “I’m sorry, I wish I could. It’s difficult to devote my attention to just our problem when we have so many that require it.”

Hyde groaned again and turned into Henry’s side, nuzzling his nose into Henry’s stomach and placing his arms tightly around Henry’s waist. He huffed gently, the physical contact seeming to relax him a bit. “Well, maybe if you could pull yourself away from micro managing me for five seconds, we would have an answer to at least one of our bigger problems.” Hyde jerked his head in the direction of the ray gun they had acquired from Cutthroat Lucy.

Henry hummed in agreement. “Yes… It’s difficult to work when I can’t actually manipulate instruments.” He leaned over and placed a kiss to the top of Hyde’s head. “Even more difficult when you’re tuckered out from pretending to be me and can’t do it for me.”

“Seriously, how do you do it?” Hyde demanded. This had been a constant question from him over the last few weeks. “It’s like everyone needs a nursemaid! The lodgers are always starting fires and making messes, Lanyon is always worrying incessantly over you, and those hoity-toity patrons of yours?” Hyde made a face, and Henry laughed, inclined to agree with Hyde’s estimation of the people he was forced to charm in order to keep the Society funded.

“Yes, well, now you understand why I hired Rachel.”

Hyde’s eyes went melancholy, and he released Henry. He turned over and laid his head in Henry’s lap, folding his hands gently over his own stomach. “I miss her,” he murmured. “Can’t we tell her?”

Henry shook his head. “We’ve already told Robert. How many more people do you want to know our secret?”

“But he took it so well…”

It was true, Robert had been a godsend in these trying times. He’d saved them from accidentally blowing meetings with patrons to explaining away both Henry’s and Hyde’s long absences. He’d kept them safe, and kept their secret. It would be a real boon to have another ally like him, but… “Listen,” Henry said, shifting to lay his hand over Hyde’s. “I know you miss your conversations with Rachel as yourself, but we can’t afford to let people see you right now. The law is after you, Cutthroat Lucy is after you, and you can only be me in appearance. We’re in a delicate place. We don’t have the resources to cope with it if telling her blows up in our faces. Maybe once this all blows over…”

Hyde growled and flung Henry’s hand off of his. “And how much longer is that going to be? We haven’t figured out how our super healy gun works, we haven’t figured out how to get you back in your side of the body, and we don’t even know what’s causing this!” He turned away from Henry and curled up defensively, his arms going around his knees as he held them to his chest. “I just want to be myself again.” He sighed, heavier than Henry had ever heard him sigh before. “I want to be free again.”

Henry gazed at the back of Hyde’s head, the brown hair meek and well-ordered in comparison to Hyde’s usual mane. Henry fingered a lock of it thoughtfully.

They were running out of ingredients for the potion. Another order had been placed, but they needed to make what they had last just in case something else unpredictable happened.

However, one set of ingredients for a night of Hyde’s peace of mind seemed well worth the risk.

“Well, I can’t change our predicament, but you do deserve a reward for masquerading as me so well these last few weeks,” Henry said. “If we’re careful, I’m sure we could manage a small night of mischief on the edge of town? We have enough ingredients for one night of indulgence. We could brew up the potion, you could see Rachel, maybe steal some of whatever she’s baking for tomorrow’s breakfast, and then go feel the night air on your face. I think the moon is even nearly full.”

Hyde madea sharp, short sound, blowing air between his teeth. “It is full. Rachel will have her hands full looking after Jasper because of it, I’m sure. And how will I explain away my mysterious three week absence to her, pray tell? No, thank you very much, I have enough work to do without coming up with lies to tell my friends—not to mention cleaning up the aftermath of the transformation.” Hyde turned back over, letting his legs splay out and a hand fall over his forehead. He stared blankly at the ceiling as if he were just drifting through his thoughts. “I wonder how Lanyon got that out of his carpet…”

Henry rolled his eyes, thankful for the hardwood floors in his lab. “You do have time, you know,” he told Hyde.

“No, I don’t!”

“You do,” Henry said, pressing a finger to Hyde’s lips to hold back any other arguments. “You’re just not used to balancing all this. You’re tired, and the simplest tasks—even ones you want to partake in—seem insurmountable.”

Edward’s green eyes widened softly in the familiar angles of Henry’s face. “Yes… How did you know?”

Henry gave Hyde an incredulous look. “Because that’s what it was like for me. In the beginning, when you were first born.”

Hyde blinked. Then he winced. “Gods of science and alchemy,” he whispered. He reached up and touched the pads of his fingers gingerly to Henry’s cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

Henry leaned into the gesture, his eyelashes fluttering. He’d never thought he would ever hear Edward Hyde apologize for anything. He placed his hand over Hyde’s holding the other man’s hand against his cheek. “Thank you. But you don’t have to apologize. I managed. And…I’m glad you’re here with me now.”

Hyde pulled his mouth to the side in a sardonic smile. “Easier to admit some things about yourself when all of your selfish desires can stare you back in the face, huh?

Henry laughed. “Yes, rather.”

Hyde smiled for a half second, but then the expression faded. “I miss my face…” Hyde’s hand slipped away from Henry’s cheek, and his gaze fell to the side, melancholy.

Sympathy welled up in Henry’s chest. He knew what Hyde was feeling: Hyde needed something to keep him going. Henry had an idea. “Alright,” he said. “No outing then. We’ll just stay in. Let go, be yourself for the night—” Henry slid his hand over Edward’s torso, stopping at his hip and gripping it gently. “—and I’ll look after you.”

Hyde looked at Henry blankly for a moment, like he didn’t understand. Then, all at once, understanding bloomed in his eyes. “Oh!” he said loudly. “You mean—! But we haven’t—!” He put his hand over his mouth, cutting himself off. He held it there for a moment, then slowly pulled it away from his lips. “Are you sure?” he asked more gently. “This is your body, and we haven’t done anything like that since what happened with Lanyon.”

Henry smiled. “That was rather a lovely evening.”

Hyde nodded, the beginnings of his usual wicked grin playing on the edges of his lips.

Henry leaned over Hyde, touching his forehead to the other man’s delicately. “But it was rather a bit of effort on everyone’s part. Tonight, let’s have it be about you. My body, your body, it doesn’t matter. Whichever you’re more comfortable in. Don’t think about how many ingredients we have left or what a pain cleaning up will be—just indulge. You’ve been working yourself so hard. You deserve a little relief.” Henry traced the curve of Hyde’s neck lightly with his fingers, making the other man shiver. “And I would be more than pleased to help you achieve said relief.”

Hyde leaned up and fitted his lips to Henry’s. Henry closed his eyes and leaned into it, feeling Hyde push back and swell underneath him. They came apart and Hyde held onto Henry—one hand curved around the back of his neck, the other tracking his cheek. “Let me up. I’m going to go slip into something more comfortable.”

Henry smiled softly and sat back. “Going to take the potion then?” Hyde nodded and Henry paused thoughtfully. “Do you mind if I watch?”

Hyde raised a sly eyebrow. “Henry, you voyeuristic sinner, you.”

Henry blushed marginally and shook his head. “No, it’s just that usually I’m so caught up in it that I can’t watch. I’ve never seen it from an outside perspective like this before. Besides…” He waved his hand dismissively through the air, feeling flustered. “You’re not the only one who misses your face.”

Hyde made a whimpering sound, and covered his mouth with a hand as he turned red. Henry felt himself flush harder, taken aback by how adorable Hyde was, blushing in Henry’s body. “You can’t just SAY things like that!” Hyde whined. “Warn me that you’re going to be so grotesquely saccharine before you do it next time!”

Henry swallowed, doing his best to calm himself. “A-are you still going to let me watch?”

Hyde threw open the door. “Fine! Yes! Whatever! Just stay there, I’ll be right back!”

Henry perched nervously on the edge of the bed. Hyde flicked an eye back over him and tossed a hand into the air frustratedly. “Not like that, you prat! Bring the mood back.”

“Right, yes.” Henry stretched himself out on the bed, and propped his head up on an elbow, the way Lanyon used to arrange himself during their university sleepovers. He knew that he and Hyde had both found it rather alluring. He raised his eyes to Hyde’s to see if this was more acceptable, but was only met with a flustered headshake, and then Hyde disappeared down the hallway.

Henry took a deep breath to cool down, then allowed himself to be pleased with himself. It wasn’t every day that one made Edward Hyde blush. He’d settled down by the time Hyde returned. The flask in Hyde’s hand shifted with the luminous blues and greens of their potion.

“Right, then,” Hyde said, still sounding flustered. Touches of pink still dusted the tops of his cheeks and his eyes were excited, but shy. “Ready?”

Henry sprang up from their bed and stood in front of Hyde. “Absolutely.”

Hyde put the flask to his lips, then tipped his head back and drank. He lurched forward when two thirds of the potion was gone, and Henry caught him, guiding Hyde’s hand to the bedside table to place the potion there before he could spill it or break the glass in the agony of the change. He held Hyde as the other man began to convulse, his hand steady on Hyde’s shoulders even as they sank to the floor. He watched as his face shifted into the one that belonged to Hyde—the worry lines melting away, the curled brown hair straightening and paling, falling over Hyde’s shoulders in a golden cascade. He shrank, Henry’s clothes fitting him more loosely than his own would have. Green and blue liquid pearled at the corners of Hyde’s eyes and dribbled from his mouth. Jekyll thumbed the potion away from the corner of Hyde’s mouth, fascinated by the way it spread under his thumb. How had they managed to do this so cleanly at Robert’s house? Hyde was a mess. There was no control in the way he shook and gasped for air. The only hint of restraint was the lack of sound from Hyde’s open mouth. Ragged, panting gasps, but no cries. Finally, Hyde’s shape stopped shifting and solidified. The green eyed man opened his eyes and grinned slightly, looking very much like himself again.

Henry moved then, and kissed him. Hyde melted against Henry, holding him close. “Thank you,” Henry said when they parted. “That was beautiful.”

Hyde nipped Henry’s lips. “Stop talking pretty and get me out of these clothes. You promised me an evening, doctor.”

“Quite right, I did.” Henry deftly slipped Hyde’s tie from his neck and tossed it away. “Take yourself over to the bed, and I’ll deliver on that promise most graciously.”

Hyde licked his lips and slunk away, shedding clothes as he approached the bed. As he went for the buttons of his trousers, Henry pushed him gently, tipping him off balance and sending Hyde toppling into the bed. Hyde laughed, splaying his limbs over the fine silk sheets. “Impatient, are we?”

“This is supposed to be a celebration of your achievements, a reward for all your hard work,” Henry said, sinking in between Hyde’s legs. “It only makes sense for me to be the one to go through the trouble of removing these.”

Hyde hummed and pet Henry’s hair. “I like having your giving side turned against me, doctor.”

Henry smiled and dropped a kiss into Hyde’s hand before it retreated. “Now, let’s see about getting these undone.” He pushed the first button from its fastening, and went down the line, dipping his lips against the skin he exposed as the trousers came undone. Once they were loose, he pulled them from Hyde greedily, taking Hyde’s undergarments as well, leaving the man unclothed save for his socks, sock garters, and loosely buttoned shirt.

“Like what you see?” Hyde asked, propping one of his ankles on Henry’s shoulder. Henry smirked and slid his hand up Hyde’s leg. He worked his fingers under the sock garter, and pulled the sock off with little tugs. “Of course I do.” He switched which of Hyde’s legs was propped on his shoulders, and worked the other sock off as well. “I’ll like it even better when I get to see you in the throes of orgasm.”

Hyde leered, looking more like his old self every minute. “Promises, promises.”

Henry discarded Hyde’s other sock, and then turned to his own clothes. He stripped off his tie and dragged it over the sensitive porcelain flesh of Hyde’s thigh. “And every one I intend to keep.” He willed the rest of his clothes away, eager to pay attention to Hyde instead of buttons that weren’t real to begin with. He slipped back between Hyde’s legs, thrilled by the sight of Hyde’s growing erection. He felt himself harden in response, excited by Hyde’s enthusiasm.

Henry leaned in, savoring the heady scent of Hyde’s arousal, and then dipped his head down to lick along the side of Hyde’s penis. Hyde moaned and arched his back a bit as Henry took him into his mouth, then reached down and tugged at Henry’s hair. “No, I want to feel you over me.”

“Mm,” Henry hummed around Hyde. It was an acknowledgement, but also a sensation meant to tease. He was rewarded for his efforts as the other man gasped. Henry felt Hyde’s fingers go slack in his hair, and used the freedom to bob his head a few more times, coating Hyde’s erection with slick saliva and working Hyde’s arousal up to the point where he could see Hyde’s blush all the way down over his chest. Only then did he pop off of the other man’s erection and lift himself up onto the bed.

“Like this?” he asked, sliding his own erection up over Hyde’s. Hyde’s breath caught in his throat as their hips touched. He licked his lips hungrily, staring up at Henry with lustful eyes. His hands lay over his head, his fingers dancing as if he wished to drag Henry down on top of him but enjoyed the sight of Henry looming over him too much to execute the motion. “Yesss,” he whispered, craning his neck up towards Henry’s, asking for a kiss.

Henry indulged, dropping his lips to meet Hyde’s as he dropped his other hand to encircle their erections. He pumped them slowly, devouring the sounds Hyde made and voicing a few of his own. It was overwhelming, seeing Hyde like this. Soft and lustful and greedy. It was freeing to be able to satisfy his own appetites by bringing his other half pleasure. There would never be anything with any other partner quite like the quiet satisfaction that bringing Hyde to orgasm brought him.

He could feel Hyde beginning to lose his grip, Hyde’s movements becoming erratic, his breath coming in short, restrained gusts. Henry nipped Hyde’s neck, then brought his mouth to Hyde’s ear and whispered, “Let go.”

That was enough to break him. With a shout, Hyde came in Henry’s hands. The residual shocks carried through their bond, and brought Henry down just after him. They clung to each other, warm and sated in their bed, and Henry felt some of the tension ease out of Hyde. He gathered the other man to his chest, dropping another kiss to the top of his blond head. No matter how he had felt before, Hyde was a thing of beauty. He was so openly and unapologetically himself. Forcing him to continue this masquerade was cruel. “I’ll find a way to fix this, Edward,” Henry said. “Everything else can wait until you’re free again.”

Hyde shook his head. “Frankenstein and the exhibition come first. We have to convince the lodgers to do it, and the only way for us to do that is if we convince that old bat that what we’re doing is mad enough.”

Henry paused, and then nodded. “If you’re sure.”

Hyde reached up and turned Henry’s face down to look at him. “I’ll always be me to you. And, for now, that’s enough.” He kissed Henry and then snuggled contently back against his chest. “Besides, I believe you. You’ll figure this out—if only so you can make sure I’m not messing up your beloved taxes.”

Henry rolled his eyes and stroked Edward’s hair. “You know me so well.”

“And I always will.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this and want to read more, check out more of my work [here!](http://ashenpages.tumblr.com/myfanfiction)
> 
> You can also find me on [Tumblr](http://ashenpages.tumblr.com/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ashenpages), and my very own [website](https://theresatyree.com/) where I serialize my own original work.
> 
> To read my original novel Author X Audience, [click here!](https://theresatyree.com/author-x-audience)
> 
> I also sometimes take commissions and do little contests for people to give me writing prompts. Keep an eye on me on Tumblr and Twitter for those. If you have questions, you can reach out to me at fanficsbyash@gmail.com,  
> but I'm usually more responsive over Twitter and Tumblr.
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